ello 
veryone!
Anyone for tea?
March 2006
This is my first attempt at a website so please suggest any improvements in my Guest Book. There is also a Forum for 'news & views'.So please sign in the Guest Book when you first view my website and use the Forum whenever you feel like posting anything of interest. Thanks!
I am a retired widow living in Hertfordshire, England with my two elderly cats Cagney and Cleo. I live in a semi-detached house with a very small front garden and an average sized back garden in which there is one of my favourite shrubs - Choisya 'Sundance' but more of that elsewhere. My hobbies are gardening, reading and travelling. I have two daughters living fairly close to me with three of my grandchildren, and two sons, one of whom lives in Cumbria and the other in Devon - both good holiday destinations! Although I live alone I am not at all lonely and I like my own company, particularly as it gives me a lot of time to mess about on the computer. I belong to an online Gardening Club, which keeps me well informed on gardening matters and which has enabled me to 'meet' lots of cyber-friends all over the world. I also belong to an online Book Club, which keeps me educated and amused and, again, brings cyber-friends to my desktop. Via this website I hope to make more friends to chat and exchange photos with !
Here is a photograph of Cleo looking at Cagney on the computer.
This is an aerial view of my back garden in summer:
At the very bottom is Buddha's garden, where my favourite shrub, Choisya 'Sundance', grows on either side of a Comans bronze grass behind a golden Buddha.
This lovely shrub is also known as Mexican Orange Blossom and has pretty, white, perfumed flowers in midsummer. The foliage is evergreen and if placed in a sunny spot, it will reward you by shining like a mound of golden doubloons throughout the year.
The cats like two stone ornaments in the garden. Cleo sunbathes on the Deer and Cagney communes with the Fox!
(Cagney died in February 2007 and is now buried under the Deer.) 
My front garden is very small indeed and I do very little to it. Here is a glimpse through my lounge window. It is narrow, faces south and is very arid. The photo also gives a glimpse of the sort of semi-detached house in which I live:
The red hedging rose is 'Notcutt' , a Chelsea gold medal winner in 2003. The blue flowers are Perovskia 'Blue Spires'.
I live in a 'Garden City' which has plenty of green space around the buildings and wide green verges on every street. It was built about 75 years ago by a famous town planner and is considered a model of its kind. There are no buildings over four stories in height and the old houses were built in traditional red brick with sloping 'Mansard' roofs. Unfortunately, my house is of a later (Swedish) design! Its one big advantage is that is has large 'picture' windows, so it is very light and airy.
The town is about twenty miles north of London and only half an hour's train ride away, so access to the theatre, exhibitions, concerts and the other delights of a major capital city is easy. North on the railway line takes me to Northern England and Scotland so I am very conveniently situated overall (especially as I no longer drive). The local shopping centre is adequate for most needs and contains several major stores. It is also pedestrianised, with lots of flower beds and a fountain, so is a very pleasant place to shop. Other excellent shopping centres such as Cambridge and Peterborough are also easy for me to get to, so I am well placed for 'retail therapy' - even though I do not do much of it!
This completes my 'Home & Garden' page, which I hope you have found interesting.
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